Iain McCaig
(US)]] Iain McCaig is an internationally renowned and award-winning illustrator and conceptual designer and noted storyboard artist. He is perhaps best known for his work in the and film projects although his contribution to Fighting Fantasy has been of great importance to the series. Biography Early Life Iain was born on 19 March 1957 in and moved to the west coast of with his family when he was three. He then grew up in and other towns on the . After leaving home at fourteen, he lived for several years on his own in Canada before going to study art at the in . After completing his degree, he moved to where he began his career as a graphic artist and illustrator. Career During a break from his Glasgow studies, McCaig returned to the US and worked on the trailer for . When a choice lay before him, he decided that 2000 book covers would be better than twenty minutes of screen time for the same number of drawings, and so his career began in the world of print. In London McCaig began an illustrious career illustrating books, comics, records, advertisements, posters, and limited edition prints and was soon sought out by many publishers and authors coming to the attention of the Fighting Fantasy franchise very quickly. Personal Life and Family Iain now lives with his family in , Canada. Iain met his wife Leonor whilst living in London. After his daughter was born they he moved to the village of in , living in a picturesque old house. Soon after his wife gave birth to a son, Inigo. Iain's daughter, Mishi, is now following in her father's footsteps, having contributed to , and , as well as producing her own short film work. Bibliography ''Fighting Fantasy'' In 1983 Iain produced one of the iconic pieces of Fighting Fantasy art with the Shape Changer for the cover of The Forest of Doom. This was reproduced as one of the eight colour plates in the large original version of Out of the Pit and was also selected, along with the original cover of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, to be one of the two Fighting Fantasy jigsaws. The Forest of Doom had been Ian Livingstone's first gamebook written by himself, and it seemed that Iain McCaig became an immediate favourite with Livingstone, because his next three books, City of Thieves, Deathtrap Dungeon and Island of the Lizard King were all published with cover artwork by McCaig. When Ian Livingstone produced the PuzzleQuest Book Casket of Souls, it was to be a beautifully illustrated book with full-colour plates, and the person selected for this role was once again Iain McCaig. This is perhaps his greatest work in the realm of Fighting Fantasy with the artwork from it having been reproduced a number of times and giving full reign to his distinctive watercolour technique. Cover Illustrator ''Fighting Fantasy'' Gamebooks *(#3) The Forest of Doom (Puffin, 1983) *(#5) City of Thieves (Puffin, 1983) *(#6) Deathtrap Dungeon (Puffin, 1984) *(#7) Island of the Lizard King (Puffin, 1984) ''Fighting Fantasy'' Novels *''Firestorm'' (Puffin, 1993) *''Darkthrone'' (Puffin, 1993) *''Skullcrag'' (Puffin, 1994) *''Demonlord'' (Puffin, 1994) Other Fighting Fantasy *''Casket of Souls'' (OUP, 1987) Interior Illustrator ''Fighting Fantasy'' Gamebooks *''City of Thieves'' *''Deathtrap Dungeon'' Other Fighting Fantasy *''Out of the Pit'' (Puffin, 1985) *''Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World'' (Puffin, 1986) *''Casket of Souls'' *''The Fighting Fantasy Poster Book'' (Puffin, 1990) *''The Fighting Fantasy 10th Anniversary Yearbook'' (Puffin, 1992) Map Illustrator *''Casket of Souls'' Battlecards McCaig was also one of the artists who worked on Steve Jackson's Battle Cards (published by Merlin Publishing in 1993). All seven main artists had cards dedicated to them featuring a mini-biography but written in the style of mythic fantasy. Also, the artists themselves drew self portraits. In McCaig's case he was depicted as a young wizard in golden vestments confronting an undead apparition. This card was number 2 in the US set, and number 73 in the UK set. Notably, McCaig's contribution appeared to largely recycle much of the Casket of Souls artwork. Outside of Fighting Fantasy In the world of fantasy gaming, McCaig also illustrated (books 1 , and 2 ) and his work also appeared in a number of editions of White Dwarf. The band also commissioned him to create the cover of their album . His work has also been used by the . In 1989, he was offered a job by , the acclaimed film design and special effects company created by and moved back to the land of his birth to pursue his career. He worked for ILM off and on ever since on various feature films in varying capacities as designer, art director, storyboard artist and animator. Perhaps most notably he was a principal designer for , designing characters including . He also contributed designs to the other films in the Star Wars saga. Other principal design credits include 's and 's . The range of other films he has worked on is vast including , , , , and among others. He has also worked on a number of children's programs. Iain founded , a production company dedicated to bringing magical stories to the screen. His directorial debut, a children's film called (art directed by ), opened at the in March 1998 and won the Gold Medal for "Best Family Film" at the . Apart from his ongoing success, one of McCaig's most notable acclamations was by , the -winning designer of Terminator 2, , , and The Phantom Menace, who said: "Iain McCaig's characters arrive on the page fully formed, their life stories expressed through every beautiful pencil stroke, from the lightest fairy tales to the darkest nightmares." In October 2008 was released by . Originally due out in 2007, this is a book of Iain's work. Futher Notes *'Ian McCaig' is a common misspelling of his name. It has been erroneously used to credit him for some illustrations and artwork, for example on the back cover of Demonlord he is referred to as "Ian" rather than "Iain". See Also External Links *Iain McCaig at the Internet Movie Database *The Gnomon Workshop *Iain McCaig biography *Telling Stories: The Art of Iain McCaig *Iain McCaig at Gamebooks.org References Category:BattleCard Artists Category:FF Artists